Running "Resident Evil 5 / Biohazard 5" on Linux with Proton

In-depth steps for getting the game to run under Linux. There are several references online that cover how to do this, but they are vague and assume familiarity with tools that are not common knowledge among the Linux community. This guide provides a quick overview of the precise steps needed to get the game working, followed by a detailed explanation of each step and the reasoning behind it. The guide focuses on Gentoo x86_64, but can readily be adapted to other distros.

Introduction

This guide is constructed from personal experience getting RE5 to run on Gentoo Linux x86_64. Other distros may require fewer or different steps, but the general flow will be the same.

TL;DR

For Gentoo x86_64

In Steam client beta, configure RE5 to install with Proton >=4.2

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=773388188
Launch and force quit game

USE="wndind" emerge net-fs/samba virtual/wine app-emulation/winetricks

https://github.com/Matoking/protontricks

WMP11_64: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-media-player-details.aspx

emerge app-arch/cabextract

cabextract "${HOME}/Downloads/wmp11-windowsxp-x64-enu.exe" -d ${HOME}/WMP11

protontricks 21690 winxp

protontricks -c 'wine ${HOME}/WMP11/wmfdist11-64.exe' 21690

Ctrl+C

protontricks -c 'wineboot' 21690

protontricks -c 'wine ${HOME}/WMP11/wmp11-64.exe' 21690

Ctrl+C

protontricks -c 'wineboot' 21690

protontricks 21690 win7

...

Profit!

Game Installation

Installation on Linux is fairly straightforward with the beta Steam client. The process is the same for most Windows titles. From the "GAMES" section of the Steam library (it will not appear under "STEAMOS + LINUX" until it has been installed), perform the following steps:

1. Right-click on "Resident Evil 5 / Biohazard 5" and select "Properties"
   
2. At the bottom of the window, click next to "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool" and select a version of Proton greater than 4.2-0 from the dropdown
   
3. Click the "CLOSE" button, then click the "INSTALL" button on the game's library page

First Run

Before running the game for the first time, some prep work is required to get around "Games for Windows Live" requirements. One effective solution is to patch out the need to run GFWL at all by following this guide:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=773388188
Once GFWL no longer gates access to the game, launch it. Steam will install a few required Windows runtimes before launching the game. In the game window, a Capcom logo should appear, followed by a Dolby Digital logo, followed by a black screen, at which point the game will hang. At any time, press Alt+F4 (by default) to close out the game. It is now time to fix the issue that causes the hang.

Getting Setup with Protontricks

The game hangs because it tries to run a short video using "Windows Media Player" before loading the main menu. The necessary version, WMP11, is not part of the Wine base system, so it must installed manually. Protontricks can aid with this installation

Protontricks Prerequisites

Protontricks requires Wine and Winetricks to run, since it is a simple wrapper around the latter. It runs on Python, which is usually installed on Gentoo systems. It also requires winbind to perform some installations. On Gentoo, this means installing net-fs/samba with the winbind USE flag set:

USE="wndind" emerge net-fs/samba virtual/wine app-emulation/winetricks

Installing Protontricks

Protontricks is not in Portage and the packages for other distros are not officially supported. Use pip or pipx to install it according to the following instructions:

https://github.com/Matoking/protontricks

Getting APPID 21690

Proton uses a separate WINEPREFIX for every title. Protontricks sets this prefix based on the APPID you pass it. To set an APPID environment variable for RE5, after performing the "First Run" steps above, execute the following command in a new terminal:

APPID=$(protontricks -s "Resident Evil 5 / Biohazard 5" | cut -sd \( -f 2 | cut -d \) -f 1)

Future commands should be executed in the same terminal and will refer to this APPID.

Installing WMP11

WMP11 has very strict installation requirements. The Windows version must be set appropriately and a reboot (wineboot) is required after some installation steps. It is also necessary to use the installer package for the correct architecture.

Obtaining the Correct Package Version

There is a 32-bit version and a 64-bit version of WMP11. The architecture of the WINEPREFIX determines which version is required. To determine the architecture, execute the following command:

protontricks ${APPID} list

If it returns the following:

------------------------------------------------------
You are using a 64-bit WINEPREFIX. Note that many verbs only install 32-bit versions of packages. If you encounter problems, please retest in a clean 32-bit WINEPREFIX before reporting a bug.
------------------------------------------------------

then the prefix is 64-bit. Otherwise, it is 32-bit. Once the correct architecture has been determined, download the appropriate version from the following link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-media-player-details.aspx

UPDATE 2020-07-29: Microsoft have made it more difficult to obtain components for Windows XP. The above link is no longer valid. For the x86 installer, try the following link:

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=media%20player%2011

Download "Windows Media Player 11" which provides a dynamic installer. I have not tried this method and I do not know if the dynamic installer will be able to obtain the actual components that it needs to install.

Extracting Installer Components

It is not necessary to install the full WMP11 program. So, to extract the needed components, first install the cabextract utility:

emerge app-arch/cabextract

Then, execute the following command:

cabextract "/location/to/WMP11/installer.exe" -d ${HOME}/WMP11

Installing WMP11 Components

WMP11 will only install under Windows XP/2003, even though RE5 runs under Widows 7, so it is necessary to switch between the two versions during installation. The installation will hang after each component, so it is necessary to interrupt the process once output stops. It is also necessary to complete installation by "rebooting" the prefix after each component. First, set the Windows version to XP:

protontricks ${APPID} winxp

Next, install the codecs:

protontricks -c 'wine ${HOME}/WMP11/wmfdist11*.exe' ${APPID}

Ctrl+C

protontricks -c 'wineboot' ${APPID}

Next, install WMP11:

protontricks -c 'wine ${HOME}/WMP11/wmp11*.exe' ${APPID}

Ctrl+C

protontricks -c 'wineboot' ${APPID}

Finally, revert to Windows 7:

protontricks ${APPID} win7

protontricks -c 'wineboot' ${APPID}

Now, launch RE5 from Steam. Performance should be comparable to that on native Windows.

Recovering from Problems

If anything goes wrong during WINEPREFIX setup, issue the following command:

protontricks ${APPID} annihilate

Then, run and exit the game again and go back through the "Installing WMP11 Components" subsection.

Conclusion

Due to some strong dependencies on optional Windows components, Resident Evil 5 requires unusually complex steps to run under Steam Play. But, for fans of the game who have moved on to Linux, the extra effort is worthwhile.

References

• https://www.protondb.com/app/21690
  
• https://askubuntu.com/questions/652424/windows-media-player-11-12-with-wine

[DanMercer43]

after a year trying to install rhis game on linux, i've finally done it. What worked for me was to force the proton version 5.0.10 and after installing it without GFWL, I ran chmod -R 777 on the folder that contained the wine prefix ( 21690 in compatdata folder) and finally I executed the command "protontricks --no-background-wineserver 21690 wmp11", after that i booted the game and was able to play it

[Ivan]

This games has bad performance, put this down on launch options to fix it:
PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command%

[Whompithian]

I sure hope you're right about that. I wouldn't mind sunsetting this guide. But, I'll probably hold off on trying it out until I inevitably upgrade my PC.

[ShuShay]

Woops, by "prontricks install," I meant the wmp11 installation with the command I mentioned. I shouldn't type these things up when I'm sleepy...

[ShuShay]

I haven't followed this guide myself, but I don't think it's needed anymore. There's a protontricks wmp11 verb that has worked fine for me ever since I used it for my installation last year. That basically means you can just type "protontricks 21690 wmp11” and be done with it. I've been playing RE5 with no cutscene issues at all on Ubuntu 20.04.

I think the bigger problem nowadays is that some verbs (including the wmp11 one) don't work properly on Proton 6.x and higher. If you want to use those versions, you have to run the game in Proton 5.13 or lower first, kill its process when it hangs, run the protontricks install, then switch to 6.x.

[Whompithian]

It's been awhile since I've gone through these steps myself. My guess is that the previous install (wmfdist11-64.exe) doesn't finish before you ctrl+C out and it tries to resume when you execute the next command.

[DanMercer43]

I have a problem , when i reach the point of the guide where i use the "protontricks -c 'wine ${HOME}/WMP11/wmp11-64.exe' 21690" command i get an error message telling me that the setup has detected that another update is in pogress and that i have to complete it first. Idk if it's a problem with my WMP11 installer or if it's a problem with wine,

thanks for the awesome guide by the way

[Whompithian]

CNET seems to provide a legitimate x86 download:

https://download.cnet.com/windows-media-player/

I haven't unpacked it to see whether they altered it. I really wouldn't have anything to compare to, anyway, since I used and kept the x64 version.

[trpz]

Hello, and thank you for the guide.

I'm trying to pull it out, but it looks like the link for WMP11 is broken, and I was not able to find an alternative in the official Microsoft pages. Someone have a good download alternative?

Thanks!

[Whompithian]

With the exception of the one under, "If it returns the following:" Any command is assumed to be in your PATH. Please adjust accordingly.